


Origins

by Celirian



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Fairy tail au, Gen, Historical Origins, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-25 23:12:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6213946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celirian/pseuds/Celirian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Fiore magic always has been and always will be and no one has ever questioned that. At least, not until Natsu and the gang find themselves untangling a mystery that could reshape everything they thought they knew about magic and it's origins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And So It Begins

 

Disclaimer: The world of Fairy Tail and all its characters belong to Hiiro Mashima. I own nothing and am only borrowing said characters for some amusement and fun.

Most of the ideas and concepts for this story however are original and are very AU with the current story line. In terms of timeline assume this is ancient and takes place right after Laxus and Raijin Tribe try to take over Fairy Tail. 

I’m open to productive feedback! If you think there is anything I can improve let me know (in a kind way). Flaming and immature comments will be either ignored or promptly made fun of. On a final note I don’t pretend to be an expert writer. I’m a novice at best and English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for poor grammar and mistakes. I’m writing this in hopes of improving my skills and to, hopefully, create a good story. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 

Lucy Heartfelia sat at the bar. Her chin rested lazily in the palm of her hand which was propped up at a slight angle, causing her to slouch over. Half lidded, tired eyes gazed past Mirajane who was busy making drinks for the many occupants of the guild’s oversized bar lobby. It was noisy today— noisier than usual. More guild members were home and around than had been in the past couple of months. There was nothing special about that day; no celebrations or birthdays or holidays, just a strange coincidence that almost every guild member seemed to be between jobs at the moment.

Granted, to any normal person outside of the guild the building was _always_ noisy. Fairy Tail was infamous for being loud… among other things that may or may not have included being rambunctious, unpredictable, easily riled up, and downright destructive. All these things to Lucy were as normal as the sunrise in the morning. It took a flexible and patient person to be in Fairy Tail— a lesson she learned very quickly when she had first arrived. Within thirty- no maybe even fifteen seconds- of walking through the front door her partner Natsu had started an all out brawl with his ultimate rival Gray. This ultimately lead to an all-out guild beat down that included anyone and everyone underneath Fairy Tail’s roof whether they wanted to be involved or not.

Still, today was even more noisy than usual.

Taking her half full cup of ice water, Lucy put the bottom of the cold glass to her forehead. It helped the pounding headache that she had woken up with for a brief second, but not for long. She peered up through the bottom of the glass and watched the light dance through the water’s surface until a drop of condensation made a great leap from the side of the glass to her nose. Lucy went cross-eyed and focused in on the drop as it rested on the tip of her small nose.

“Careful Lucy, you wouldn’t want your eyes to get stuck that way.”

The playful joke was followed by a light giggle and Lucy looked up at Mirajane who was now leaning over the bar on her elbows to meet Lucy face to face.

Mira cocked her head to the side and smiled brilliantly as some of her white hair fell over and obscured her face. She pointed a long, delicate finger up at the glass. “Want me to put more ice in that?”

Lucy looked up at the drink on her forehead again and then sat up, replacing the water to its rightful spot on the bar. She wiped the water droplet off her nose and shook her head. “No thanks. It wasn’t really helping anyway.”

“Okay.” Mira frowned and straightened herself up to put her hands on her hips. “I haven’t seen you this gloomy in a while. Is something the matter?”

Lucy stared at the water glass again. “Just a headache.”

Mira didn’t respond for a moment. She studied the young blonde with a serious gaze for a solid minute before her normal smile cracked her lips and she let out an airy laugh. “I think someone might have a good case of cabin fever.”

“What?” Lucy looked up at her friend, eyebrows furrowed. Sometimes Mira made no sense. At least not until you thought about what she said and then you could find the hidden meaning that she always seems to slip into her random statements, but today Lucy’s aching mind wasn’t in the riddle-solving mood.

“You’ve been cooped up in here for the past three weeks!” Mira pointed to a window on the side of the bar. “The only times you’ve been outside were when you’re coming here from your home or going home.”

Lucy blinked a couple of times and then gazed outside as if seeing it for the first time. Mira was right, as usual, but she still felt a jolt of disbelief at the statement. “Three weeks?”

Mira just nodded and slowly wandered to the opposite end of the bar where Cana was perched with her usual kegs of ale and began talking.

“Huh…” Lucy looked back out the window, slowly realizing she had wasted over a month doing… pretty much nothing. Aside from getting a few chapters finished in her novel she had quite literally thrown out most of her time for the past number of weeks.

Well, she had to defend herself in some ways—all three weeks being wasted wasn’t entirely her fault. When she had returned from a mission with Natsu and Gray that had required trekking through unimaginable amounts of snow and being wet for 80% of the mission, while it had paid her rent for the next two months, she had come down with a rather nasty case of the flu. A week in bed easily cured that, but the other two weeks she had no one to blame but herself. Neither Natsu nor Gray had asked her to go on any jobs recently. Erza had been away on a mission alone and was still one of the few members not back at the Guild, but Lucy knew she could have easily walked the fifteen feet to the billboard and taken a look at what was available or asked anyone if she could join them on a job.

But no one was on a job, which was why it was so noisy.

Lucy spun around on her bar stool and looked out at her fellow guild members. Natsu and Gray were in the back corner involved in a rather intense staring contest. Their audience had grown significantly larger since a half hour ago when their familiar banter announced the competition’s initiation. The rowdy crowd was now choosing sides rooting for the wizard they thought were going to win and Macao had started taking bets.

Lucy smiled as she stood from her stool and meandered over to the job board. The little square had filled up in the past week to the point where barely any wood was showing between the different posts. It quickly became clear as for why it was so full; most of the jobs posted were either low paying for the amount of work it required, really far away (and with the Harvest Festival over and the Winter Festival right around the corner who would want to risk missing that?), or the job was outright boring. No monsters to hunt down, no mysteries to solve—a few lost articles that needed finding, a call for a babysitter for way too little money (seriously 10,000 jewels to babysit four three year olds?), a search and rescue call that was as far south as you could go before finding endless ocean, and…

A gust of wind fluttered the papers on the board from an open window and something grabbed Lucy’s attention. Well, the reward grabbed her attention. Reaching out a hand, she moved a request for that crazy acting troupe aside (because her acting days were over no matter how much the insane director was willing to pay) to see a small piece of paper hidden underneath it.

 

 _Mages Needed, Preferably with Guild Knowledge_ \- _700,000 Jewels_

_Information and tracking investigation._

_Requirements: Must be from a registered guild and have diverse skills. Groups preferred._

_For details contact Professor Rosche, Kizern University History Department, Ancient Magics Division_

 

Lucy frowned; the post wasn’t very explicit about what the job entailed. Information and tracking? Did they need to already have the information or would they be gathering the information? What would they be investigating? Could they hear what this professor day to say before accepting the job?

It was sketchy to say the least. Then again, it was for a professor at a university so he couldn’t be _too_ creepy… right?

“What’re you looking at, Lucy? 

The blonde jumped as a high pitched voice rang out in her right ear; startled, she turned and tore the job advertisement that was still clutched in her hand off the board. Lucy frowned at Happy who was hovering in the air just at her ear’s height and staring at the paper that was now in Lucy’s hand. He swooped down and snatched the listing from her hand. “Did you find us a job? I hope so, I’ve been really bored.”

Lucy reached out to grab the paper back, but Happy zipped backwards just out of her reach, reading the paper all the while. “Happy! I was just looking at—”

“Natsu! Lucy found us a job!” Happy dashed across the hall, paper fluttering in his paws.

“—it. Here we go…” Lucy trailed off as she found herself talking to air. Well, that was that. If the past was any indication there was no getting out of this now; Natsu never said no to anything.

At least she hadn’t torn down the performance bill; she was pretty sure that Natsu would jump at the chance to dress up as a dragon again any day.

Slowly, Lucy followed Happy’s trail to the table where Natsu sat looking at the bill. He looked up as she approached, his face twisted in confusion. “I don’t get it. What’s the job?”

Gray rolled his eyes and he bent down over Natsu’s shoulder to read the paper. “Looks like you gotta talk to this teacher guy to find out. That sounds a little…sketchy.” he raised an eyebrow at Lucy.

 _Thank you!_ Lucy nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, but then again if he teaches at a school as big as Kizern, it can’t be too bad. Right? We’ve done other jobs like this before. Maybe he doesn’t want just anyone finding out about his research.”

Gray looked skeptical. “I wonder why he doesn’t just ask someone he knows at the school or students to help him. You’d think they’d be more qualified to help than someone from outside his field.”

“Not everyone who goes to school can do magic.” Lucy crossed her arms and bit her bottom lip. She remembered Levi talking about the college in Magnolia. There were a ton of students who weren’t mages, but still studied magic. “They can study things like history and magi-tech and besides, he said he wanted people with guild knowledge. I bet students who can do magic are too busy to join guilds. Maybe they don’t know a lot about them.”

Natsu frowned a little and then bounced up from his chair and pointed to himself with his thumb. “Well I can track anything and Lucy’s real smart so she can do the research! Besides, I’ve never been to a school before.”

“That’s obvious.” Gray mumbled and Natsu immediately rounded on him putting himself inches from his friend’s nose. Gray narrowed his eyes in response. “What? You heard me.”

“You’ve never been to one either! So you’re just as dumb as I am.”

“What did you just call me?”

Lucy turned just as Natsu was winding up for his first hit in the inevitable beat down that was about to take place and waved to Happy. The cat grabbed the job bill out of Natsu’s hand and expertly evaded getting hit as he floated through the air after Lucy. He fluttered down to the bar and turned as Mira came up behind him.

The cat held the paper up. “We’re going to take this job.”

Mira looked at the bill curiously as she took it and read it over. “That’s odd, I don’t recognize this one. Where did you find it?”

Lucy sat down on a stool and looked up at her friend. “It was under one of the other postings. You mean you haven’t seen it?”

Mira shook her head.

Happy’s ears drooped. “Oh… maybe it’s a joke then?”

“Hm, let me go ask Master about it. Maybe he put it up there and forgot to tell me about it.”

As Mira walked off, Lucy poked Happy in the side. “Don’t sound so sad. We can always find something else.”

“Yeah, but Natsu and I were looking at the board this morning. Nothing else looks like much fun and who wants to do a boring job?”

Lucy couldn’t deny that but she had to do _something_ at this point. Once Mira pointed out that she wasted a good portion of the month sitting around, she felt… kind of icky. She never thought of herself as someone to sit around and do nothing. Although, with the Harvest Festival recently passed and that whole debacle with Laxus still hanging in the air no one had been themselves recently. Things were changing in Fairy Tail and in the magic world around the guild and it was weighing on many of them.

It was a couple of minutes later that Mira came back with the job posting in hand. She laughed as she put it down next to Happy. “Just as I thought. You’re good to go.”

Happy jumped up into the air with an excited whoop and took off for the brawl that was quickly expanding at the back of the guild. “Natsu! We’ve gotta go pack!”

Lucy shook her head and let out a small sigh as she exchanged a knowing glance with Mira. “And so it begins.”

Mira laughed and leaned over putting her chin in her hand. “Is that how your book starts out?”

_Huh? Where did that come from?_

“N…no, but…” Lucy grinned as she thought about it. “It does sound like a great chapter title.”


	2. The Professor

Chapter 2- The Professor

Gray Fullbuster wasn’t quite sure how he got himself roped into going with Natsu, Happy, and Lucy to a college town filled with bookworms and geeks and teachers.

Okay, that was a lie— he knew _exactly_ how he ended up hopping on the train at the last minute because it would be a cold day in hell before he’d let the flamer get lone bragging rights about ‘going to school’. That just wasn’t going to happen; besides, what did Natsu know about studying and research? He probably hadn’t ever read a book to the end before.

_He’s probably never even_ started _a book before._

Although he couldn’t blame Natsu for that. Books were pretty boring. He never understood how Levi and Lucy found them so enthralling, spending hours on end with their noses buried in paper and words and chapters.

Lucy seemed really excited when they left; she said she had only ever visited the University in Magnolia once before and that it was supposed to be small compared to Kizern.

“It’s the biggest and most prestigious school in Fiore!” She said, practically bouncing in her seat. She was completely ignoring Natsu who was flopped over, head in her lap and getting greener by the minute. “You know, if I hadn’t joined Fairy Tail I might have gone to school eventually.”

Happy laughed. “What would you study?”

“Maybe writing. I don’t know.”

Gray had tuned out the conversation from there. He knew that people went to school for a lot of things but he never understood why some of them went to school for magic. Magic wasn’t something that could be taught in a classroom; it had to be learned step by step and he couldn’t fathom anyone doing that among lots of different students.

_Ul only had two of us and we practically drove her crazy._

Envisioning thirty other kids trying to learn magic the way they did was hilarious. It would be utter chaos. Besides, the world didn’t need a bunch of other people stripping throughout the day. Still, even Gray would admit that he was interested to see how this school worked. With all the different things going on lately (from the war with Phantom to Laxus being expelled) he was beginning to realize that a lot happened every day in the world that he wasn’t very aware of.

He had no idea about Lucy’s past or that her father was such a powerful (and crazy) person. That there were people out there that were so bent on money and prestige that they would walk all over family to get it and threaten lives or even start a war. And who knew what Laxus had been doing with the Rajin Tribe or what they had experienced to make him so bent on taking Fairy Tail over for some greater purpose?

That still didn’t give them the right to do what they did, either of them, but Gray was beginning to see that there was a catalyst for every event and even though he might not know what it was or agree on how the person (or persons) reacted, it was still important to consider and learn about.

Sure, he knew about things other people didn’t. The look on Natsu and Lucy’s faces when they found Deloria on Galuna Island was proof enough of that. He didn’t want to remember the monster at that time. All the pain and suffering it had caused him throughout his life, but in hindsight it showed him he had learned lessons that other people hadn’t. Learning and growing were about experience and everything that was out in the real world: getting his hands dirty, spilling some blood, and seeing how the world worked first hand. How could anyone really learn something in a cramped classroom?

Guess he’d find out soon enough. Or maybe not soon enough; Kizern was far and trains were slow and watching Natsu writhe was only fun for long before he actually started to feel bad for the guy. Only a little bad, though.

_Mighty Dragon Slayer. Pfft._

Overall the ride wasn’t too bad. Between watching Lucy and Happy bicker and poking at Natsu to see what colors his cheeks could turn, Gray managed to keep himself occupied. When they did finally roll into the station it was already dark, but the city’s glow was so bright it gave the sky an orange glow. Gray dragged Natsu to his feet and off the train, but was only a few steps away from the train when he had to stop.

Kizern was huge. Magnolia might be a big city, but Kizern was _huge_. The buildings went to the horizon and beyond as far as the eye could see. Nestled in a valley between a couple of rather large hills (not quite mountains) to the East and West the city stretched North and South, divided by a river that cut through the valley. The buildings were bright and colorful and the streets were crowded with people, even well after dinner time. Distant music and lively chatter popped up from every direction.

Who knew college towns would be so energetic?

Lucy stretched as they looked around at the streets below from the vantage point where the train let them off on the Western hill. Across the way on the Eastern hill sat the University; at least it had to be the University. It _looked_ scholarly. A spread of large, brick buildings that climbed up the hill and on top of it all was the largest building with a clock tower that was large enough to rival the one at the Cathedral in Magnolia.

Gray shifted Natsu on his shoulder and glanced down at Happy near his feet. The cat yawned and frowned up at him. “What now?”

“I think we should find a place to stay for the night. It’s too late to look for that professor now.” Gray looked at Lucy. “Besides, I’m starving.”

Lucy nodded. Fourteen hours on a train was never fun and everyone was exhausted and hungry and more than a little cranky.

“Hey Natsu,” Lucy looked over at the green Dragon Slayer and grinned. “Levi told me she’s been here before and that there’s this really famous street that all the students go to called Snack Street. It’s nothing but blocks of food carts.”

Oh man, that sounded awesome. Gray was pretty sure his stomach would start eating itself if he didn’t find food soon.

Natsu, on the other hand, just hiccupped.

_Mighty Dragon Slayer my ass._

* * *

 

If Natsu’s motion sickness was an impressive thing to see, then his ability to recover after rolling around on the floor like a lethargic slug was doubly so. They hadn’t walked through town more than ten minutes before he was back to his rambunctious and carnivorous self. Tired as they were after the train ride, the night had not been an early one. Which was something Lucy was kind of regretting at eight in the morning as she walked up the steep hill towards Kizern University… kind of. It was still a fun night between Gray’s dismay at figuring out the city’s specialty was spicy food and a couple students asking if they could study Happy in their laboratory.

Kizern was not what she had been expecting. She found herself with preconceptions about towns just like she did about people. When she first arrived in Magnolia she knew it was a town of magic since there was a major guild there. She expected to see certain kinds of people and she had ideas about what she would find in the town: magic shops, mages, guild merchandise. Port towns were about trade and business and commerce, and college towns about learning and education.

Why she was expecting libraries and book stores and students coming and going from their studies was suddenly beyond her. Sure, there were bookstores and there were students but that was all between the bars and restaurants and cafes and gardens. It was mixed in with the live music and parties and an air of life that was acutely different than what was found in Magnolia. Both cities were vibrant and energetic but in very, very different ways.

Things were quieter in the morning. Without nearly enough time to recover from their festivities, students dragged themselves to classes, part time jobs, or to cram in some last minute studying. The air smelt of coffee and baked goods and everything else easy for someone to grab and eat on the go. Gray was happily munching on his own muffin as Lucy finished off an apple and Natsu and Happy bickered over the last of five meat stuffed dumplings they had bought from a small snack cart outside the school’s gate.

Lucy tossed her apple core in a trash can and groaned a little. “This city is huge and this school is huge. How are we supposed to find this professor?” _You’d think a school this big might have signs or something…_

Gray shrugged. “He’s a history guy right? We just have to find where their history department is.”

“So we jus... haf to ask shom…one.” Natsu said between bites of the dumpling he managed to win from Happy.

Which was easier said than done. They asked a language student who knew the professor’s name but nothing else, a biology student that hated history, and a math teacher who was so busy talking to himself he didn’t even hear their question before they found someone who could help.

Happy cut a tall girl with brown curly hair off in midair to ask if she knew who the professor was and after staring for a solid minute she finally nodded without taking her eyes off Happy’s wings. “Professor Rosche? Yeah, his office is on the second floor of the archive building. Keep heading straight up the hill and when you get to the lake take the right path. It’s next to the library.”

“Finally.” Lucy said relieved. “Are you a history student?”

“Yeah,” The girl turned with a smile. “I’m in his ancient civilizations class. He’s a really good teacher once you can get past his tendency to go on tangents all the time. If he’s not in his office his student assistant will probably know where he is.”

Happy did a flip. “Thanks!”

The girl blinked. “Um, you’re a cat, right? Were you magically enhanced or something?”

Natsu laughed. “No way, Happy is Happy!”

“Aye!” Happy said flipping again before floating to the ground. “I can do magic, though.”

Lucy shook her head. She always forgot that Happy wasn’t the typical house cat. The people in Magnolia were so used to him that no one even blinked twice at him so when they went outside the city she always had to remind herself that a talking flying cat was more than a little odd.

“Happy, that’s a cute name.” The girl laughed and knelt down to pat Happy on the head. “That’s pretty cool that you can do magic. I’d stay away from the science students though, they’d have a field day with you!”

“No kidding.” Gray rolled his eyes. “They looked ready to dissect him last night on our dinner table.”

“I don’t doubt that; we can all get fanatical about our work. So what are you guys doing here at the University? Are you all mages?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, we’re from Fairy Tail. We’re here on a job.”

“Really?! That’s so cool! I always wished I could do magic, but all I can do is study it.” Standing back up, the girl waved. “Well, I better get going. It was nice meeting you and good luck with your work!”

“What’s your name?!” Happy shouted after the girl as she walked away.

She turned and waved. “Candice!”

Lucy waved after her and began back up the road. She really hoped the others they worked with were like her. This job could be a lot of fun.

* * *

 

Books.

Books were _everywhere_. Up the walls, on the floor, on the desks, on the chairs where people should be sitting at the desks; there was even one sitting precariously on one of the ceiling fan wings. Books with bookmarks, books splayed open, books stacked at angles that defied physics. It was like Fairy Tail’s basement archive only not organized.

Natsu never thought he’d be happy that Mirajane was a slight neat freak. Not that he had ever read any of the books at the guild nor would he read any from that office; there were far better (and much, _much_ more interesting) things to do.

Lucy, on the other hand, looked like she was physically hurting as she stepped into the room and looked around at the mess. Her eyes kept darting to one mammoth book that was open face down, its pages falling out of the binding and her right eye was twitching, which was a sure sign that she was not happy about it. It reminded Natsu of their first mission together; they had to steal a book from that crazy rich guy with really ugly maids (except Virgo who turned out to be really pretty and nice) and Lucy had looked like she was going to be sick when she was told they had to destroy the book.

He didn’t really understand why, but books were important to Lucy and if they were important to her than he’d be nice to them. That’s why this job sounded like fun to him; it was something right up Lucy’s alley.

Besides, he’d never been to a school before and it seemed like it might be fun. _And it totally is!_

Natsu’s attention was drawn as a pile of books that nearly reached the ceiling shifted to his right, teetering dangerously back and forth. Taking a precautionary step back he grabbed Happy off the floor and put him up on his shoulder. He knew firsthand how much a book could hurt; granted they were usually thrown at him, but falling from up high couldn’t be much different.

“No no no no no no—“ A panicked voice suddenly chirped from behind the swaying book pile and a tall slender man with a low, long grey pony tail sprang into view with his arms out ready to catch any book that fell.

He didn’t look very strong and there were a lot of book in the pile and- _ouch_. Natsu cringed as gravity won the fight and the pile came crashing down right onto the man who fell backwards onto a large desk knocking over another pile of books which flung off the desk and onto the chair where…

_Books. Books_ everywhere _._

Once the dust settled Gray took a hesitant step towards the desk, eyeing the other stacks of books that managed to stay standing. “Um, are you Professor Rosche?”

The man turned and stared at Gray, blinking as if he wasn’t sure he was looking at someone or not. After a moment he stood up straight, dusted his black shirt off and fixed his collar obviously ignoring the fact that he just lost a battle with his personal library. “I am and who are you three?”

“Four!” Happy piped up putting a paw in the air.

“My apolo—” The professor stopped short as he turned to look at Natsu and blinked again. He reached into his pocket and took out a pair of small rectangular glasses, cleaned them on his sleeve and put them on and blinked again. “Oh, oh my…is…are you a cat?”

Natsu frowned. He was really tired of all these people calling Happy a cat. Maybe he was _cat-like_ , but Happy was Happy, his best friend and partner and that’s all there was to it.

Happy didn’t really seemed bothered though. He nodded and leapt off Natsu’s shoulder, padded across the room to stop at the professor’s feet. “Yup! I’m also a member of Fairy Tail, so there are four of us here.”

“Fairy Tail?” Professor Roche frowned and then jumped with a small gasp. “Oh, the guild! Yes, yes, of course you’re here about my bill. Fantastic, great, wonderful, come in come in, sit down!” He paused and looked at the chairs covered in paper and books and shook his head. “Oh second thought, do you mind standing?”

_And people call me hyper?_ Natsu had to try very hard not to laugh as the man ran around to the other side of his desk and began shuffling through papers, tossing pens and books and what looked like half a sandwich aside. _What a waste of food…_

“Aha!” Rosche finally found what he was looking for and motioned for them to come closer to the desk. “Come here, come here. What do you see?”

He smoothed out a large map of what Natsu recognized as Earthland, but it looked very different from other ones he’d seen. Instead of numerous towns and cities and roads written on it, it was filled with rivers and mountains and forests and the desert. It even went beyond Fiore’s borders and marked some of the lands to the north and east.

“Whoa, this is a really old map!” Lucy said with that lilt in her voice that told Natsu she was getting excited. “The capitol isn’t even marked on here.”

The professor looked impressed and smiled at Lucy, looking over his glasses at her. “Very good. This is what our beautiful home looked like before the kingdom was settled here.

“Huh?” Natsu couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. “Hasn’t the kingdom always been here?”

“Not always, no.” Rosche pushed his glasses up wiped a hand over the map. “Perhaps the people have always been here or at least some people were here, but the world we know now has been a long time in the making.”

Lucy looked ready to start dancing on the spot. “So what does this have to do with your bill?”

“Absolutely nothing.” The professor grinned. “I just thought it was interesting. Your job only has to do with here.” He tapped a large country in the middle of the map.

_Woohoo!_ Natsu immediately burst into a giant grin. Desierto was warm and sunny and everything he loved. He glanced over at Gray and yup, definitely not happy. _This is gonna be fun._

Gray scratched the back of his head. “So, what are we going to be doing? Your posting didn’t say a whole lot.”

“Yes, yes.” A quick ruffle of paper and the map was folded up and on top of a stack of books and folder was in its place. “This is everything you’ll need to know. In short I posted that bill for a dear friend and old colleague of mine who’s worried about a guild that is stirring up trouble in his town.”

A small tap on his ankle alerted Natsu that Happy wanted in on the conversation. As he scooped his friend up he caught Gray’s eye. They all knew that taking a job that involved another guild without their knowledge was technically against the rules. Spying or intervening on another guild’s job was also bad news. Basically anything that could end in a fight was bad.

Bad but boring, because at the end of the day, who didn’t want to blow of some steam? Especially against guilds that brought a bad name of mages and guilds.

“Are we going to spy on them?” Happy asked jumping from Natsu’s hand onto the desk.

“Oh no no no. That wouldn’t be right of me to ask; you could get in trouble. You’re just going to finish their job before them.” A push of the glasses and a glance at the three (four) mages and Rosche burst into a grin at their wary faces. “I know, I know. Two guilds cannot take the same job, but I am not the original poster and my job is slightly different. It just has the same goal; finding an animal that lives outside my friend’s town in the desert.”

_It got better!_ Natsu grinned at Lucy as she laughed in his direction. He was glad they went on a job, but he was seriously wondering how much fun he could have when it looked like it was all about books and studying. Hunting? That was _always_ fun and it usually let him blow off some steam…so to speak. Even Gray looked a little happier.

Oh it was on. He and Happy were going to find this animal before Gray and it was going to be glorious rubbing it in his face. They’d also totally be beating another guild and, rivalry rules be damned, that was _always_ a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve posted a good bunch of this story on a different site and a lot of people had a problem with my Gray. I know that he and Natsu are kind of portrayed as easy going and rather simple minded, but Gray always struck me as a more philosophical person on the inside. Especially when I read the Deloria arc or even how he handled things in Edoras, he’s quite methodical in the way he acts. Unless Natsu is around and there’s a challenge in the air… then all bets are off.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments and reviews are always appreciated (and I really take what you say into consideration, I want to improve my writing and storytelling skills). See you soon! -Siri


	3. Sand and Silence

Professor Rosche was a little more than surprised that someone had actually responded to his post, let alone a group of mages from Fairy Tail. He knew them by reputation and name only, but he hadn’t exactly been expecting... _ children _ .  Then again, magic users and those joining guilds were getting younger and younger each year. Some of his colleagues believed that was because magic was evolving..becoming more human than inhuman. More and more individuals were finding out they were capable of magic at younger and younger ages.

Him? No, Rosche had  _ other _ theories on magic and its “evolution”. So maybe having a group of kids take this job wouldn’t be such a bad thing. They weren’t  _ too _ young, so they could learn. Learn and teach and they were the perfect age to have open minds--the perfect age to talk to their peers because to most of the younger generations he was just an old crazy professor.

Or so he could only hope. Because if anyone was going to see what he saw, they’d have to be able to bend outside the norm.  They’d need to be able to see a bigger picture and find the hidden details. To believe the unseeable exists and search for the undiscoverable.

Being a teacher, he could only do so much. Being  someone unable to use magic, he could do even less (at least in this situation). It was time to look beyond what he could do with his mute hands and his simple words. So he was going to take a leap of faith. Which, luckily, was something he was used to doing as a scholar and researcher.  

Oh, he hoped they could do it. Because if he didn’t send someone now it would be too late. 

_ I might already be too late _ .

“So this town is super old?”

Rosche turned to the pink-haired boy who was holding the blue flying cat, (Happy, was it?) and nodded fervently. He might have been close to retirement age, but he still couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice when he was teaching something new to someone. “Extremely. It lies alongside an expansive series of canyons that, we assume, were carved out by rivers a very, very long time ago. I spent almost ten years  studying the land and culture there. The people are very secluded and their culture runs deep within the land. There is very little magic in the town, in fact  _ not one mage _ has been born there in nearly  eighteen years.”

The blonde girl gasped a little and finally tore her eyes away from his overturned  _ Magical Creatures Encyclopedia _ (which he was resisting the urge to pick up and look into ‘flying, talking cats’) on the floor. “Whoa, really? I know magic isn’t extremely common outside Fiore, but that’s-”

“Remarkable, isn’t it?

_ Remarkable? Of all the words to use...he called this place remarkable? _

* * *

Lucy blinked a couple of times as she stared down a dirt path that was the main road ( _ the only road?) _ in the small, desert town named Rivera. An ironic name considering there wasn’t any river nearby. Or water. Or much of  _ anything _ nearby.

_ And people  _ live _ here? _

Nestled up against a high plateau, Rivera’s main road was lined with sun bleached wooden buildings and the occasional cactus as it wound through the barely two kilometer long town and turned upwards towards the top of the plateau. Lizards poked their heads out from under porches debating on whether they should brave the sun that beat endlessly down on them from above. But despite the heat, people were out in shops and talking and living out what looked like a fairly normal day.

It wasn’t that the town didn’t have anything in it; there were food stands, a cafe, a pharmacy, a small church which looked to double as a school, an inn, and even a small armory shop, but it was just all so  _ small _ .  The shops lined the street while the people who owned them lived on top of their businesses, the children numbered so few that they all attended the same class, and it was the sort of place where everyone knew everyone else...and all their business whether you wanted to or not.

Lucy eyed the cafe sitting in the shadow of the church. A drink and some shade sounded like the greatest thing on earth right about now. They had had to walk from the nearest town, a larger city near the edge of the desert called Sypher, because the trains didn’t come out this far to villages this small. And that walk? Not short. They had left before the sun was up and it was well into the afternoon now and judging from the way Natsu’s stomach was making unholy noises it had to be near dinner time.

“It’s so hot...” Happy shielded himself with his bag and plopped against Lucy’s leg. “If the professor hadn’t given us that map, we’d have roasted to death out there.”

Grey nodded in agreement. “Talk about the middle of nowhere. How do these people do it?”

“This. Is. Awesome!” Natsu spun around to look back at the vast blanket of sand they had just traversed over before turning back to the small town. “I bet there’s all sorts of cool stuff around here and the professor said there’s a ton of history here. I bet we could find something really cool buried in the sand or something.”

“Never expected  _ you _ to be interested in history.” Grey said rolling his eyes.  __

Lucy laughed, it was a valid statement considering how excited Natsu looked. Then again, Lucy never expected anything from Natsu because he’d turn around and blow away all those expectations to the wind. In a way, it almost made sense. Dragons were creatures of time and lore and Natsu was pretty much one of them. Sure, Natsu acted like magic was all he cared about, but magic  _ was  _ life for them and life came from everything that time had already left behind.

Being at the school and talking to the professor had made Lucy start to think, which in the end meant Rosche was doing a very good job at being a teacher.

“So the professor said we should find the inn and ask for...” Lucy trailed off, she probably should have been paying more attention to what the professor was telling them about the job instead of  gritting her teeth at all the book abuse in Rosche’s office.

“Sera.” Gray said matter of factly. “I think he said she was a student of his a few years back.” With a shrug the ice mage put his hands in his jacket pockets and began into town.

Lucy followed quickly pausing to crouch down and tug on Natsu’s scarf as he was having a very intense staring contest with a lizard sunbathing on a small rock. “Come on, if you spend any more time out here your brain is going to melt.”

Natsu didn’t budge an inch. “Nah, it’s not so bad here.”

_ Not for a fire mage, no _ .

Lucy sighed. “Well,  _ I’m  _ going to melt. And aren’t you hungry?”

“Oh yeah! We haven’t eaten since this morning!” And pink took off down the road before Lucy could stand back up. Food had that effect on Natsu... And most of the guys in Fairy Tail.  At least it was a predictable tactic, if not a costly one.

As she wandered into the town Lucy looked around at the buildings. They didn’t look  _ that _ old. Worn down, sure, but years in the blazing heat and sun would do that to any building in a very short amount of time. But there was definitely a different... _ something _ in the air.

Something she couldn’t quite put a finger on. It was almost as if something was missing and it wasn’t just because she was used to more crowded streets in the city. It was something intangible. Something you couldn’t see or touch and it suddenly made Lucy’s stomach tie in a small knot.

Something that hit her like a walking into a wall.

_ Why do I feel nervous? _ Nervous and anxious and everything she usually wasn’t when she was on a mission with Natsu. Because yeah, she got scared sometimes, but being with her friends and her guild mates usually negated those feelings. They had her back and she had theirs.  _ I’m not nervous...I feel like I’m alone _ .

Which was even more ridiculous than being nervous because she could see Natsu and Happy just ahead of her chasing something that was scurrying across the road and Gray standing to the side shaking his head in either shame or amusement, or both. She could feel her keys bumping up against her hip and-

_ My keys! _  It hit her like a rock from the sky and Lucy grabbed at her belt half expecting them not to be there, but her fingers wrapped around cold metal and she gasped a little. Of course the keys would be there, its not like she goes anywhere without them. They were a part of her and it would just be wrong to not feel her spirits presence. Because summoned or not she could always feel them as if they were standing by her side...  _ I can’t! And they’re cold. _

Quickly Lucy unclipped the first key on the metal ring she kept them secured to and held up Leo’s key in front of her. It was like she was just holding a normal key, Leo... Loke wasn’t there. The metal was almost like holding an ice cube, it was cold and steely and nothing like the way her keys usually felt. They were warm and smooth and something she could always rely on.

And now she wanted to panic. Even when she was a kid she could feel the spirits around her mother. They were  _ always _ there, through her whole life; even when she was stupid and had them stolen or tossed out of windows on boats. Now that feeling was  _ gone _ , like a part of the air was suddenly turned foul and she was finding it hard to breath.

_Is it this town?_ _Where did that stupid professor send us?!_ Turning, Lucy stared back down the road which lead out into the lifeless sea of sand and heat gripping Leo’s key like it was a life buoy. If it was something with the town then all she had to do was leave, right?  She had to try-- she _had_ to or she really would panic. She couldn’t do anything on a mission like this. She _wouldn’t_.

A warm hand wrapped around her wrist as she took her first step back toward the desert. Lucy didn’t even need to turn around to tell who it was.

“Lucy?” Natsu sounded more confused than anything.

“Natsu.”  _ Don’t panic _ ,  _ he’s right there.  _ How was she even going to explain this? She could barely pinpoint anything beyond her dire need to run back to the last point she remembered things feeling whole and normal. “Something’s wrong.”

Another set of footsteps alerted Lucy to Grey coming up behind them. “Hey, is everything okay?”

“No.” Natsu’s voice took on that deep tone that meant he was everything serious and nothing like his casual self.

_ Just breathe. They’ll help me figure it out _ . But she still couldn’t stop shaking. Her spirits were  _ gone  _ and even though she knew they weren’t because they would never leave her (because she would never leave them) logic and reason had nothing against the weight on her shoulders that screamed ‘ _ this is wrong, so so wrong’ _ .

“Lucy, did the heat finally melt your brain?” Happy tugged on a strap on her boot.  

And Lucy wanted to smile because Happy always had a way to make her feel better even in the weirdest and scariest situations, but right now she could only shake her head as she turned to her friends. “My spirits are gone.”

* * *

 

Natsu had that look in his eyes that said he was about to strangle the first person or thing to get in his way. Some people were surprised when they saw that look on the happy-go-lucky dragon slayer and Happy would admit it wasn’t very Natsu-like. But even his best friend could get serious when push came to shove. Especially when it involved himself or Lucy or anyone in the guild.

That was probably Natsu’s best characteristic. You could always count on him, no matter what.

Happy looked up at Lucy and saw that she was holding back tears. Happy didn’t really understand what was going on. She was fine before, maybe she was a little bit cranky and tired from the walk through the desert, but he figured they all were. This was something different and he just wanted to know how he could help.

Which lead to a problem Happy found himself constantly battling. He could only do so much as a cat. A talking, flying, magical cat, sure, but he was small and couldn’t do a whole lot aside from finding the right words at the right time or popping out his wings for a perfectly timed retreat or mid-air save.  

Natsu and Grey didn’t look any more confident in what to do. Lucy was normal a minute ago and now she was either going to run away into the sun or collapse on the spot.

She tried to run. Tugging her arm, but Natsu held tight. “Let go! I have to leave here, this place, it’s...it’s all wrong!”

“Lucy, wait!” Natsu was clearly trying to hold his friend back but not hurt her. “Your magic can’t be gone! You used it earlier- when it got really hot and you rode in that clock that talks funny.”

“No, I can’t feel them, they’re gone or blocked or-- it’s not  _ right _ .” Lucy stopped pulling and covered her face with her free hand. There was no holding back the tears. “Let go, Natsu. Please, I have to leave.”

“Excuse me, but is everything all right?”

Happy let go of Lucy’s boot and looked to his right at a guy slowly approaching them. He looked like he was being cautious which Happy couldn’t really blame him for. In a town this small everyone probably knew everyone and they were new. New and making a scene.

Which might be why they had drawn a small crowd at this point even though they hadn’t done anything other than walk down the street.  _ That might make Lucy more nervous. _ He couldn’t let that happen. “Who’re you?”

The guy stopped mid step and put his hands up palms out, still obviously wary, but somehow not surprised that Happy was the one who spoke. “Name’s Jake.”

Grey’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. His body, tensed ready to make a move if he needed and Natsu slowly pushed Lucy behind him. Happy gulped a little, the guys always got really protective when Lucy (or really any girl for the matter) was upset. They couldn’t afford to start something right now, it might just make things worse for Lucy if she couldn’t use her magic like she said she couldn’t.

“We need to find the Inn.” Happy padded out a few steps. He was sure Jake didn’t mean any harm, but the fact that he was so cautious right from the get go made Happy’s hair stand on end a little.  If the one guy on the street willing to approach them was being cautious then who knows what the other people around them might be thinking... Or getting ready to do.

Jake put his hands down and nodded once. “No problem; it’s right next to my place.” He glanced at Lucy and the boys and gestured down the road. “It’s at the edge of town near the plateau.”

“No!” Lucy pulled on Natsu’s hand again, but not with much effort. “I just want to leave”

Happy knew that leaving now would be a really really bad idea. They hadn’t eaten since the morning and they drank all their water. They’d get stuck in the desert in the middle of the night at this point if they tried to get back to Sypher.  No, they would either need to eat and get supplies before leaving or wait until morning.

Happy didn’t really like being out at night, big things were hard to see in the dark and he was small and easy to spot.

“I wouldn’t recommend leaving right now,” Jake said seriously and Happy almost let out a sigh of relief. “We’re heading into monsoon season so we’ve been getting some pretty bad storms at night. Lightning, wind and rain so heavy you can’t see your own feet.”

Grey turned to Lucy and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning okay? The professor is just going to have to find someone else to do his job. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

“The...professor?” Jake gasped a little. “You’re here to see Sera! She runs the inn and I think,” he looked at Lucy and smiled. “She might be able to help you.”

Lucy blinked. “R...really?”

“Really, but I gotta warn you the place is a little messy. They’re, uh...doing some spontaneous renovations.”

* * *

 

“I thought you said they were open.”

Jake turned to the dark haired mage with a sheepish grin. He really couldn’t blame him for questioning; the inn was a total mess. The windows were boarded up with sheets of plywood and a tarp fluttered in the gap where there was supposed to be double front doors. In the street, in front of the three story building, broken wood, tables, chairs, and glass was piled up high enough to see into the second floor. “Well the bottom floor isn’t, but the rooms look a lot nicer.”

His response was a handful of skeptical glares.  Fair enough.  

Rivera was a strange town; especially to mages and right now it looked like this group had figured that out the hard way. Which was more often the case than not and it usually caused a scene that just meant trouble for the rest of the town. Which was pretty much the only reason he had run to the town entrance when Alex from the fruit stand told him a group was coming down from the north.

With a shrug Jake turned and lifted the tarp over the doors back and looked around the darkened room. If the outside of the Inn was a mess, the inside? Well, a hurricane had blown through a restaurant/bar, quite literally.  “Sera!”

Footsteps tapped over head and Jake turned to the stairwell on his left that led to the upper floors.  Jake started a little and then smirked as a slender dark haired girl hit the bottom step. “Micah, you’re not Sera.”

“Good deduction.” Micah shook her head, her long dark curls falling over her shoulders. “She’s in the basement. What’s up?”

“She has some visitors from the professor.” Stepping back, Jake waved at the group in the street who were still looking questioningly at the building. “It’s not going to fall down. I can promise you that.”

Cat in the lead the group slowly made their way past him and froze dead in the entrance square.

“What the hell happened here?” The dark haired mage looked around wide eyed.

Micah sighed, startling the group. “That’s a story.”

Which wasn’t a lie.  Jake frowned as he looked around. Just a couple days ago there was a bar off to his left and tables and chairs throughout the quirkily designed restaurant where people would meet and eat and talk. There were billiards in the back near the basement stairs and the Symphonia Rest House was the first of its kind in Rivera where people could get away from the desert and forget about the heat and their hard work.

Which was exactly what Sera had had in mind when she decided to rent out the old building after returning from school.  

Micah nodded to the stairs behind her. “Upstairs is a lot more put together.  Take a right and we’ll meet you in the reading room.”

No one moved as Micah weaved around the mages towards the back of the disaster area and disappeared down another set of stairs.  This group was probably having the worlds worst day and all he could offer them was a trashed Inn.

Yep, things were definitely off to a good start.

* * *

 

_ At least they weren’t lying about the upstairs,  _ Grey thought ruefully as he headed down a brightly lit hall and into a fair sized room lined with bookshelves and overstuffed couches.  The downstairs looked something like the guild did after their war with Phantom and considering what the professor said about magic in this town? It wasn’t hard to deduce that it wasn’t a town resident that decided to go on a rampage.

Which meant their situation was just that much more sticky. Because if it had been a magic user and the town knew they were magic users they had to tread lightly.  _ Oh yeah, that’ll be easy with flamer around _ .

Everyone outside already seemed to be on high alert and Grey wasn’t going to blame them, but it also looked like they had a fair amount of visitors. How else could a rest house in the middle of the desert stay open?

Grey watched as Lucy took a seat on one of the couches and pulled her legs up to her chest. He couldn’t even comprehend what she was feeling. He’d been low on magic power sure; after he’d used it all up. It never just up and disappeared on him. That just wasn’t supposed to happen to mages. Magic was a part of their very being. They became weak when their magic was low. They passed out when their magic was almost depleted and if they lost their magic entirely? They would die.

_ So Lucy hasn’t lost her magic, it’s just...not working? _ Yeah, that made about as much sense as this weird little town did.

At least Lucy seemed to have calmed down a little. Maybe she had come to the same conclusions that Grey had, but it still looked like she wanted to be anywhere else in the world but there.

Grey took a seat next to Lucy as Natsu ignored every open seat in the room and sat on the floor under a window. Footsteps echoed down the hall and Jake came into the room with the girl from earlier and another girl trailing behind them both a few paces.

Jake stepped to the side and waved at the two girls. “This is Micha.” He gestured to the dark haired one from earlier. “And this is Sera.” He then waved at the other girl who had hair almost as red as Erza’s only Grey was pretty sure it was shorter than his own hair and a lot better kempt.

Sera smiled lightly. “Jake tells me Professor Rosche sent you.”

Grey frowned and answered. “We answered his posting, but it looks like we might have to pull out.”

“He mentioned that as well.” Sera turned and looked at Lucy and asked softly. “Having trouble with your magic?”

Lucy looked at her wide eyed and Grey exchanged glances with Natsu.  Obviously this wasn’t the first time this happened in Rivera.  A mage walking into town and suddenly freaking out because their magic felt like it disappeared. If that was the case why weren’t Natsu nor himself being affected? Or even Happy for that matter. Why only Lucy?

Lucy swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I...I can’t feel my spirits.”

“Stellar magic, then.” Sera nodded. “You’re fine and your spirits are fine. It’s this land.”

“How does that make sense?” Natsu said, his hands curling into fists in his lap so hard that heat waves started to appear above them. “What the hell is going on here! What did you do to Lucy?”

He stood up and before Grey could even react Jake was across the room and between Natsu and the girls standing in the middle of the room. “ _ We _ didn’t do anything. Give us a minute and we’ll explain.”

This guy had definitely dealt with mages in the past. Lots of them.  _ What the hell is up with this town? _

No mages were born there even in the past decade according to the professor, but they were pretty savvy in dealing with them. The town was in the middle of no where, but they obviously got a lot of foot traffic. The people weren’t very nice towards magic from what he gathered, but they seemed to tolerate it?

Grey had way too many questions and  _ none _ of them had to do with their job. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we met a couple of other OCs like the Professor in the last chapter. I know how people can get wary of OCs (I do from time to time) because they can become Mary Sue-esk or take the spotlight completely from the characters we know and love- I'm not saying OCs are terrible and no one should have them ever- goodness no. I have read many well written stories that are about OCs entirely and I support anything that gives someone the courage to create their own form of art. In a story like Fairy Tail it is very hard to drive the plot on without using OCs so they will be present. They will have their own POVs and they'll be integral to keep the story going. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next time! -Siri


	4. Of Land and Sky

Micah sighed and had to keep from burying her head in her hands. Sera was trying her best, but these Fairy Tail mages weren’t buying it. Or believing anything because Sera really wasn’t lying...she was just trying to explain something that every single person had trouble believing unless they were either from Rivera or stayed there for an extended period of time. 

But how were they supposed to explain it? Explain that magic waned in and around Rivera. Explain that mages were known to lose all of their abilities or that the reason was because their land and culture was over affected by magic itself. 

The reasons and explanations ran centuries deep and Sera was the best person in the entire country to have explaining it, but at the same time? Not really. Sera was a historian and a scholar and she understood magic in a way even mages didn’t understand, but she was also way more accepting of things as they are than most people.

Grey, the ice mage looked up from the small ice star he made in his hands and squinted at Sera. “So I can do magic and Natsu can do magic, but Lucy can’t? That’s ridiculous.” 

Sera grabbed the bridge of her nose and sighed a little. Slowly she began the explanation that both Micah and Jake had memorized. “It’s a hefty explanation and we hate to just blow it in people’s faces the minute they show up, but-.”

“I want to know.” Lucy cut in, speaking for the first time since Sera began trying calm the tension in the air. She sounded calmer and looked less like she was about to cry, but the concern in her voice was undeniable.“What is it? Why only me?”

“Because the source of your magic is different.” Sera turned towards the blond to continue. “Stellar magic is special. It comes from the world itself. Spirits are connected to the universe, the stellar, the ground and the sky, the very terraform that makes our world and the forces that make it move. Ice magic like Grey’s comes from a different source. An elemental force that dwells  _ on _ our earth...kind of like a spirit.”

“Magical sources?” Natsu crossed his arms. He sounded more confused than disbelieving at this point. “But I thought people were just always able to do magic?”

“Sure,” Sera said nonchalantly. “People born within magically rich areas are pretty much destined to be able to use magic. Ever wonder why Fiore is the only country on our continent that has more mages than anywhere else? It’s certainly not just by happenstance.”

_ And there it is. _ Micah had to put a hand to her mouth to cover her smirk. It never failed to stop any mage in their tracks, when Sera decided to make a point about the way the magic world worked. 

Lucy stared at her hands for a minute and finally looked up back at Sera. “So… since Rivera doesn’t have a lot of magic in it’s land I can’t summon my spirits?”

“It’s the only explanation we have.” Sera said. “Other summoners like you have run into the same problems, as well as other people with non elemental magic, but it just gets weirder from there.”

“She was fine before we went into town. Why?” Happy ( _ a talking cat, really? _ ) hopped up from Natsu’s lap and padded across the room to stand at the foot of the couch near Grey’s feet. 

“That, we don’t know. In all honesty, most of this stuff is speculation at best, but it’s the best idea we’ve been able to come up with.” Pausing Sera took the other open seat next to Lucy on the couch and closed her eyes. “The professor came out to town years ago and did a study on the land and culture. He’s the one that came up with these explanations.”

“Speculations.” Grey said sarcastically. “It’s just all a little...weird.”

Micah nodded. “We don’t deny that. At least you’re accepting this better than some of the others that hear this.”

“An explanation of your first floor?”

“Something like that.” Jake said running a hand through his hair. “Our town has been in this desert for longer than anyone can really remember and for as long as we’ve known, magic hasn’t really been a thing here. When I was younger I thought magic was about as rare in the rest of the world, but things have changed a lot since then.”

Grey crossed his arms and sat back against the couch. “The professor mentioned that there was only one mage born here in the past eighteen years. Is that because of your land?”

Sera nodded. “Yes. It was unfounded that someone with magical capabilities had been born here and it scared a lot of the people. Traditions and old religion run deep in the people and something so different wasn’t looked upon to kindly. But this world is growing fast and it really wasn’t very long until magic users from other countries started venturing out and coming to town. We can’t avoid it anymore.”

Natsu growled a little under his breath. “This has nothing to do with Lucy.”

“No Natsu, it’s okay.” Lucy put a hand in the air before her friend could say anything else. “I feel a lot better. Kind of.”

“Look,” Sera stood up from the couch and nodded at the door. “Why don’t we get you guys some rooms and then tomorrow we’ll take you out of town and you can get a better idea of what we’re talking about?” She paused. “And then you can make a decision about the job?”

Micah watched as the three mages exchanged glances with each other before Grey and Natsu were both staring at Lucy. In the end it was her call, after all. The blond nodded. 

“Okay.” She didn’t sound very positive, but at least she seemed settled enough with the choices. “Besides you said it would be dangerous to leave now, right?”

Micah nodded and went to answer, but the sky did it for her as a deep rumble of thunder shook the roof. “The weather speaks for itself. Desert and rain aren’t a good mix.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's short, I know, but Happy New Year! 
> 
> I'm seriously going to try to keep this up. 2016 is over (thank god or whatever deity (or not deity) you believe in) so hopefully this year won't be the utter shit show I've dealt with for the past twelve months.


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